After reaching the semi-finals against the odds last season, Arsenal's absence from the 2023-24 Women's Champions League is a serious blow
The tears that streamed down Manuela Zinsberger's face at full time told you everything you needed to know about the magnitude of Arsenal's defeat to Paris FC on Saturday.
In the second game of their Women's Champions League qualification tournament, victory over the French side would have put the Gunners a two-legged win away from progressing to the competition proper. But some comedy defending condemned Jonas Eidevall's side to an embarrassing, early exit.
Showing their trademark steely determination, Arsenal pulled themselves back from the abyss on two occasions, with goals from Jen Beattie and Alessia Russo sending the game to extra time and then penalties respectively.
But thanks to World Cup breakout star Chiamaka Nnadozie in the Paris FC goal, the underdogs triumphed in the shootout, with Russo and Frida Maanum seeing their efforts saved. Eidevall was quick to offer up an explanation for his side's underperformance after the game.
Getty ImagesHard to accept excuses
"We knew from the beginning this mini tournament was going to be really tough, for a number of reasons," Eidevall said.
"One is that Paris is a really good team, another part is the really limited preparation time and playing on a 3G pitch that we are not really used to. So we knew there were external factors that were going to make this complicated and you only get one shot."
There is clearly some validity to the extenuating circumstances offered by Eidevall. Arsenal's pre-season has indeed been a bit of a mess, with the timing of the fixture list preventing them from playing any warm-up matches before the vital qualification tournament started.
Indeed, Eidevall added: "I think most managers prefer to play one or two friendly games before you play competitive matches, I think that is normal. There is a reason it looks like that everywhere around the world and I am not different from those other managers."
The artificial playing surface was far from ideal too, while Paris FC are no slouches, even if they did finish a distant third behind France's big two last season.
Despite all of this, these excuses are still pretty hard to accept. Arsenal have vastly superior resources to Paris FC and even though they remain without several big names through injury, they really should have had enough to win the tournament.
AdvertisementGettySo much work squandered
What makes Arsenal's early exit so frustrating is that they have overcome far greater challenges in their recent history.
The Gunners were without Leah Williamson, Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead for a significant portion of the 2022-23 season due to ACL ruptures, while Laura Wienroither suffered the same injury towards the end of the campaign. Captain Kim Little, Rafaelle and Lia Walti were also absent at various points due to various complaints.
Despite their squad being decimated by injuries, Arsenal defiantly fought their way to a third-place WSL finish, edging out Manchester City on goal difference on the final day despite losing their last two games.
Securing a top-three finish is made to look even more impressive when you consider that Arsenal were battling for league points alongside making a deep run in Europe. After topping their group, which contained then-holders Lyon, they were drawn against eventual Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Losing the first leg 1-0, the Gunners rallied in front of a 20,000-plus crowd in north London, booking their place in the final four thanks to goals from Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius. This set up a huge semi-final clash against Wolfsburg.
The two sides played out a pulsating 2-2 draw in Germany, with Arsenal recovering from a nightmare first half to grab a draw. More than 60,000 supporters packed into the Emirates for the return leg, where Arsenal's threadbare squad eventually ran out of a steam. With the scores level at 2-2 deep into extra time, a evidently exhausted Lotte Wubben-Moy made a fatal error, gifting Pauline Bremer the opportunity to send Wolfsburg to the final.
To go so close to reaching a European final, and secure third spot despite an unprecedented injury crisis, was nothing short of remarkable. Arsenal were supposed to reap the rewards for their hard work this season, seizing another opportunity to triumph on the continent with a revitalised squad.
However, due to their failure in Sweden, there will be no Champions League nights to savour this season.
Getty ImagesNo more special nights under the lights
That will sting harshly for Arsenal, who tapped into a new legion of supporters through the competition better than any other WSL side last season. After steadily building attendances through the group stages, the 21,307 fans who attended the Bayern game gave the team a much-needed boost.
Eidevall confirmed as much after the match, saying: "I think it's an amazing atmosphere and moment every time we can go out and play in front of big crowds and especially with our Arsenal supporters. So we're grateful for it. And it's a massive part of the strong performance that we had against Bayern Munich."
Things snowballed against Wolfsburg, with the women's team selling out the Emirates Stadium for the first time ever. After the record ticket sales were confirmed, Eidevall beamed: "I hope we look back on this in history that we see it as one of the starting points where this became a regular occurrence. We have taken every opportunity since I have been here to go to the Emirates. That has always been the preference to go there. The more we play there, the more it feels like home."
And herein lies the problem. Although Arsenal have committed to hosting a record five WSL games at the Emirates, their Champions League failure has robbed the women's side of further opportunities to play away from their regular Meadow Park home.
Although this shortfall could be compensated by moving some latter-stage Conti Cup and FA Cup matches to the larger stadium, these competitions hardly have the same glamour as the Champions League. It's a massively frustrating situation for the club, who will be desperate to ensure the momentum built up last season does not dissipate.
Getty ImagesDisaster for Russo
No player will have felt the pain of Arsenal's Champions League exit more than summer signing Russo. After completing her much-discussed move from Manchester United in the summer, the forward specifically cited the possibility for more nights like the Wolfsburg game as one of her reasons for making the switch to north London.
"I think the growth of the women's game has been incredible, but particularly at a club like Arsenal." she said. "The sell-out against Wolfsburg at the Emirates last season was fantastic, and I'm just really excited to be part of this club."
Russo also pointed to the Gunners' trophy-winning potential, so crashing out of one competition before it's even got properly going will hurt. Seeing former club United make it to the group stages – they have to win a two-legged tie next month to do so – would only heighten this pain.
Regardless, Russo's wait to experience Champions League football is guaranteed to continue for at least one more season.